


Hope

by Dand3l1on



Category: Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 13:31:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13435728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dand3l1on/pseuds/Dand3l1on
Summary: Chapeau was usually silent, but she needed him to say something, anything. She heard him draw breath and girded her heart against breaking.“The flowers need not understand the spring rain. It brings them to life, regardless.”She met his gaze and allowed her heart to hope.





	Hope

**Author's Note:**

> Literally just fangirling over @sweetfayetanner. Read "Our Song Lives On" or "For a Moment" for more of this rarepair. 
> 
> This is my crayon drawing. Can you put it on the fridge next to the grocery list, for like, a few hours? k cool thnx

Maria-Eleanor flung shut the doors to her private quarters, the nearby candles stuttering at the gust. She stepped out of her shoes and grasped at her stomacher. Her blonde curls were out of place.  
  
Her handmaid, Audra, hastily dropped the petticoat she had been mending and rushed over.  
  
“Mariel! _Povera ragazza,_ you must have run all the way here! Let’s get these things off you so you can breathe.”  
  
The women worked quickly at loosening the stomacher and stays. Maria-Eleanor flung them to the floor, causing Audra to squeak in reproach. However, her disapproval faded as Maria-Eleanor drew deep sobs that curled her forward and fat tears carved her powdered face.  
  
Audra took Maria-Eleanor by the arms, encouraging her over to the wash stand, and lowered her into the vanity seat. She wrung out a cloth and began pressing the cool linen to the princess’s forehead. Maria-Eleanor closed her eyes, sending tears plummeting down her cheeks.  
  
“I think we’ll have to remove this powder and start over, Princess.”  
  
Maria-Eleanor nodded. Audra slowly wiped her brow, blotted around her eyes, and wiped her left cheek clean. She rinsed the cloth, and began again.  However, when Audra swept the cloth over the princess’s right cheek, she flinched.  
  
Audra withdrew her hand. She stared at Maria-Eleanor. "What happened?"  
  
"He-" Maria-Eleanor stopped short. Her eyes squinted at the fresh memory.  
  
“ _Dio…_ No...” Audra hesitated, then blotted as delicately as possible across the cheekbone. The skin beneath the powder bloomed crimson and purple. “Mariel...”  
  
Maria-Eleanor shook her head. Her voice barely rose above a whisper. “He wishes me to bear him an heir.”  
  
“But-” Audra was dumbstruck. She had a legion of arguments at the ready, but wished not to upset Maria-Eleanor further. She waited for her to continue.  
  
“He insisted I lie with him. I explained that it is the wrong time… for me. He was disgusted to find I was… unable to receive his seed… both this time and the time prior, seeing that it didn’t take.”  
  
Audra picked up a brush and began to run it through Maria-Eleanor’s dislodged curls. “You can’t help when your body decides to overturn. And it is probably his seed that is bad, not your womb. The rumors concerning his habits prior to being wed…”  
  
“Oh please, don’t recount them to me. I am already put off by his _current_ habits. I need not add to that list.”  
  
They sat in silence for a few minutes while Audra tried to soothe the Princess and her knotted curls. After a bit, Maria-Eleanor began relaying the events of the evening. Audra listened, hating the prince more with each detail. She set down the brush and tipped up Maria-Eleanor’s chin. “We need to put something cold to this bruise. I would never wish for snow in July, but it certainly would be helpful.”  
  
“Back in England, my Father spoke of a boyhood friend with whom he had a falling out. The result was a fight, from which my father went home the loser. He said his mother put a raw steak upon his bruise. I’ve always wondered if it would actually work.”  
  
Audra shook her head, unable to hide her smirk. “Steak Tartare, for the english princess, right away.”

——-

Audra, stationed at the head of the bed, gripped Maria-Eleanor’s right hand tightly.  
  
_“_ Oh _dio_! A boy! He is your son, Mariel. Look at that chin! He has your ears!”  
  
Maria-Eleanor lay back against the pillows, smiling weakly. She reached out. “Please, may I hold him?”  
  
The midwife began rattling instructions, all of which were lost to Maria-Eleanor. The tiny form cried until placed in his mothers arms, whereupon he quieted to hear her familiar voice.  
  
“Hello, oh, I love you so much! I love you, my darling.”

—-

Adam toddled down the corridor, giggling with delight. His chubby legs struggled to keep a straight line.  
  
Maria-Eleanor was relieved that the Prince was occupied in Marseille for the next fortnight. She removed her shoes and chucked them into a nearby alcove.  
  
“Where’s my Adam?” She called out in a singsong. Peals of laughter came from around the corner. 

Setting herself to the task, Maria-Eleanor darted down the corridor and around the corner, where she collided with-  
  
“Monsieur Chapeau! I’m so sorry!” She gripped his arms, uncertain as to who was steadying whom.  
  
“I-I…” A blush crept onto his cheeks.  
  
“Oh heavens, I’m fine, Emile. You worry so much. I haven’t hurt you, though, have I?” She released his arms, picked up his hand, then looked him over.  
  
“N-no.” He closed his fingers around hers.  
  
She patted the top of his hand with her free one. “Good! I’m afraid, however, I do have to go check behind that tapestry over there for any _ wild beasts _ that might be roaming the castle.” Her emphasis withdrew a giggle from Adam.  
  
“Oh, I see.” Chapeau smiled. “Do you require an escort for such a dangerous expedition?”  
  
She took on a much more affected demeanor, and wrapped her arms around his elbow. “Oh that would be grand! I’m just terrified of the beast, you see? He has such a big growl!”  
  
The tapestry fluttered.  
  
“I said,” she chuckled and raised her voice, “he has such a _ big growl _ !”  
  
From behind the fluttering tapestry came a small, but definitive, holler.  
  
“Over there, _ mon Princess!  _ Stand back.” Chapeau smiled at her. She bit her lip, sensing the pink in her cheeks.  
  
Chapeau bent down and flipped up the corner of the tapestry. Adam squealed at being found. He turned circles on the spot, too excited to run away. Chapeau scooped him up and tossed him high in the air, catching him under his arms.  
  
“Merde!-My apologies, Princess…” He suppressed the urge to gag.  
  
“What is it? Is he hur- OH!”  
  
Chapeau set Adam back down. Adam, visibly wet, ran away from them as fast as he could. Maria-Eleanor laughed at Chapeau’s disgust.  
  
“That, Monsieur Chapeau, is a _ light _ soil.”  
  
He blushed. “Shall I call for the nurse maid?”  
  
“Thank you, Emile,  but no. I will take him to the nursery myself. It is near time for his nap. However, could you locate my shoes for me? I’ve kicked them off somewhere. They are … nearby?”  
  
Chapeau gave a snort of derision. “With such detailed information, _ mon Princess,  _ the task shall be simple.”

 

A quarter hour later, Chapeau was bringing the shoes to the care of Audra. He knocked on the heavy wooden door. When it opened, he was slightly surprised to see it was not Audra, but Maria-Eleanor who stood inside. He smiled and held out the shoes.  
  
“Marvelous, Chapeau, thank you, just put them with the others.” He nodded and ducked into the room, quietly shutting the doors behind him.  
  
Barely had the door clicked before Maria-Eleanor ripped the shoes from his hand, cast them aside, and flung herself into his open arms.  
  
They collided against the door and she crushed her mouth onto his. He threaded his fingers into her hair while she tugged his shirt tails loose from his breeches. Her hands caressed his sides beneath his shirt.  
  
She turned and stepped away. “I’m so sorry, Emile, I… I-I don’t know what’s come over me.” She steadied herself against a bookshelf. “I don’t- It won’t happen again.”  
  
Chapeau was silent. He was usually silent, but she needed him to say something, anything. She heard him draw breath and girded her heart against breaking.  
  
“The flowers need not understand the spring rain. It brings them to life, regardless.”  
  
She looked over her shoulder and met his gaze. He cautiously stepped close to her. She allowed her heart to hope, and turned to face him properly.  
  
“Emile…”  
  
He was still arms length away and seemingly immobile, so she moved closer. Of their own accord, her fingers feathered over the arch of his brow and outline of his lips. He closed his eyes and sighed, a smile turning at the corner of his mouth. His hands found her waist. She smoothed her hands across his shoulders and draped her arms around his neck. Her eyes flitted over his face, trying to decipher him, trying to make sense of anything.  
  
But he erased her thoughts by kissing her. Slow, lovely kisses that she never would have given herself time for. Her thoughts were hazy, so she gave up on them entirely. Her hands wandered across his upper back while his slid from her waist to her hips. She skipped over his nerves and chivalry by pulling his hips against her own. His breath caught.  
  
“ _Maria_ …” he whispered into her neck. “I cannot begin if…  if we are not to continue.”  
  
“Nor I.” She leaned her head to give him access.  
  
He brushed his lips over her ear. “It would break my heart to only kiss you this once.”  
  
“We have kissed more than once in my dreams, and it always breaks my heart to wake up.”  
  
He met her eyes. “Is this true?”  
  
She blushed and nodded. “It is. We have gone on many adventures in my dreams.”  
  
He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Do you tire of them?”  
  
“On the contrary, I wait for them eagerly.”


End file.
